If you had told Peggi Davenport she'd be having a baby the same year she turns 40, she wouldn't have believed you. But at press time, Peggi is enduring the long wait first-time mothers experience when pregnancy lingers past the due date.

"I never thought I'd be going down this road," Peggi said. "Until I met Bruce, it wasn't a big thing."

Peggi had been divorced and single for five years before meeting and marrying Bruce. Approaching 40, she believed kids were not a big option, but Bruce said he wanted a family.

Peggi said she made Bruce babysit her sister Patti Reid's granddaughter Leah a couple of nights so he could see what it would really be like.

The first night of babysitting, Peggi said the plan backfired. Leah's mom, Emmy Lou, dropped the 22-month-old off after spending the day at the pool.

"Leah slept from 7 to 9:30 p.m. when I changed her diaper and then slept until 8 a.m.," Peggi said. "He thought this was great, but I told him he didn't have a clue. It was just luck."

Working at the family business, Duffy's Tavern, until her due date April 28, Peggi said she got a lot of advice. Knowing each pregnancy and delivery is different, Peggi said customers still shared how they went about things.

Peggi says her pregnancy has been great. She wasn't sick, didn't feel bad and didn't have any special cravings. In fact, she didn't have much of an appetite for food and was able to manage her weight well.

"I never would have imagined it would be this good," she said. "If I had been 30 and had a pregnancy this good, I'd probably have 10 kids. It's a good thing I waited."

Because of her age, Peggi said doctors conducted an amniocentesis and were able to accurately determine the baby is a girl.

"I thought I was having the first boy," Davenport said. "But mom knew. All the way through she said it was a girl and that she wouldn't know what to do with 'little boy parts.'"

Mom Pat Geyer has five daughters: Patti, Pam, Peggi, Penni and Polli; four granddaughters: Emmy Lou, 21, Shelby, 14, Lena, 11, and Madelyn Ann on the way; and one great-granddaughter, Leah, who will be 2 in July.

"It's just intuition. I knew, that's all," said Pat. "She'll be a good mom. She had her nieces around so I think she'll be a good mom."

Peggi couldn't remember how she announced the news to the family, but her mom remembered. She said the family noticed she stopped drinking alcohol and wanted to know why. "She used to like a glass of wine with dinner and when she stopped, I sort of knew before she told us," recalled her mom.

The family has noticed one change in Peggi that they credit with the pregnancy. "She smiles a lot more now than she did," said Pat.

And sister Patti added, "She is much more tolerant of things and easygoing."

As far as motherly advice goes, Pat believes it's better to let her figure it out on her own. "I don't think you should scare pregnant women with stories. Each one is different."

Patti recalls her sister having plenty of parenting advice for her despite not having children. She would start off by saying "If it was my kid ..."

"I think she'll be a good mom," Patti said, "especially if she does everything she told me to do. If she follows her own advice, she'll be perfect."

Patti's looking forward to having someone for her granddaughter Leah to play with, but "it's weird that my mom's granddaughter will be younger than mine."

Peggi is excited about having a baby but is a little nervous about the change in lifestyle. When the time comes, Bruce will be in the delivery room with her, but she doesn't plan to give the rest of her family notice right away. "It would be a circus with my whole family there."

After Madelyn is born, Peggi plans to take some time off from Duffy's but will return whenever the "boss" says to get back to work.

"I'll take what I can get," Peggi said. "I'll get her [mom] a rocker so she can hold the baby while I work."

Asked if there were any family traditions she planned to pass down to her daughter, Peggi replied "working at Duffy's," and laughed.

Madelyn will be the first grandchild for Bruce's family, who live in Sarasota and Osprey.

An early Happy Mother's Day wish to Peggi and Bruce.

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